News
![Mottled triplefin in hand](https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/image/0035/576863/Mottled-triplefin-thumbnail-650.png)
01 Jul 2024
NZ fish closer to cities ingest more plastic
An Otago study has found New Zealand fish species ingest more plastic near urban...
![Hamish Spencer thumbnail](https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/image/0032/555692/Hamish-Spencer-thumbnail.png)
24 Jan 2024
Zoology Academic joins International Science Council
Evolutionary biologist distinguished Professor Hamish Spencer has received inter...
![Green Honeycreeper thumbnail](https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/image/0024/551157/Green-Honeycreeper-thumbnail.jpg)
12 Dec 2023
Extremely rare bird captured on film
A striking and extremely rare half female, half male bird has been spotted by a...
![A takahē with coloured identification bands around its legs, looking directly at the camera](https://www.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/image/0024/517146/Takahe-image.jpg)
04 Dec 2023
Evolution of takahē mapped for benefit of species
Seventy-five years after they were rediscovered in Aotearoa, University of Otago...
![A stream running through a valley. Its banks are grassy, with shrubs and tussocks, but no native trees.](https://otago-uni.matrix.squiz.cloud/__data/assets/image/0023/513392/Deforested-stream-image-650.jpg)
16 Nov 2023
eDNA reveals impacts of deforestation
Deforestation of Aotearoa New Zealand resulted in dramatic biological shifts in...
![Alison Cree thumbnail](https://otago-uni.matrix.squiz.cloud/__data/assets/image/0015/501315/Alison-Cree-thumbnail.png)
12 Sep 2023
Reflections from a career studying Aotearoa New Zealand’s reptiles
Emeritus Professor Alison Cree’s move to Dunedin in 1991 was to fill a temporary...
![Yellow-eyed penguin walking through grass.](https://otago-uni.matrix.squiz.cloud/__data/assets/image/0036/496287/Yellow-eyed-penguin-thumbnail.jpg)
10 Aug 2023
Understanding environment use key to protection of hoiho
Researchers hope a study into how hoiho foraging grounds overlap with commercial...
![Three stoneflies, two dark and one lighter coloured, sitting on a fern leaf image](https://otago-uni.matrix.squiz.cloud/__data/assets/image/0031/495346/Three-stoneflies,-two-dark-and-one-lighter-coloured,-sitting-on-a-fern-leaf-image-650-width.jpg)
01 Aug 2023
When cheating pays – survival strategy of insect uncovered
Researchers have revealed the unique ‘cheating’ strategy a New Zealand insect ha...
![Debbie Bishop with Holly thumbnail](https://otago-uni.matrix.squiz.cloud/__data/assets/image/0024/498300/Debbie-Bishop-with-Holly-thumbnail.png)
25 Jul 2023
Holly becomes Aotearoa NZ’s first native frog detection dog
Holly, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, is New Zealand’s first native frog-...
![Dunedin campus aerial](https://otago-uni.matrix.squiz.cloud/__data/assets/image/0026/294209/otago693614.jpg)
11 Jul 2023
Whale of a debate put to rest
Researchers have finally settled a decades-long dispute about the evolutionary o...
![PaleoGuy image](https://otago-uni.matrix.squiz.cloud/__data/assets/image/0023/416345/PaleoGuy-thumbnail-replacement.jpg)
10 Jul 2023
From zombi fungi to kororā with Henry the Paleoguy
Otago undergrad Henry Scott things to say about everything from Zombi fungi to D...
![Rarangi uplift bench full width image](https://otago-uni.matrix.squiz.cloud/__data/assets/image/0021/315084/rarangi-uplift-bench-full-width-image-0244829.jpg)
17 May 2023
Wednesday 17 May 2023, Otago researchers reveal impact of ancient earthquake
By combining the scientific powerhouses of genetics and geology, University of O...